Tag 7 - Los Arcos nach Logroño

A quick throwback to last night. The church was incredibly beautiful, especially because of the size of the place. The church has the oldest organ in Spain. There are now around 15 of us pilgrims at a table in the church square. The Italian group is drinking one mug of sangria after another... Francisco, the Brazilian, is slowly becoming our mascot of the Camino.
The day begins earlier than usual. The first people leave the hostel at around 5:30 a.m. (the Italians who had drunk so much last night). Luckily I can get back to sleep and get up at 6:45 a.m. I am one of the last to start today's stage at 7:15 a.m. I walk quite leisurely, or slower than the last few days. My calves and especially my calf muscles are already sore at the start of the day. A little later the sun rises on the horizon behind me. A special feature of the Camino Frances is that you walk almost exclusively westwards. This means that your own shadow is in front of you in the morning and as the day progresses it moves around you until it finally stays behind you. This means that you jump over your own shadow every day.
It is 1.5 hours to the first village. I want to have breakfast there, as otherwise there won't be many opportunities to reach the destination today and the day is very long. I have breakfast with Maia and Delphine, two musicians who work in the Brussels orchestra. They are currently on a four-week break and are therefore "only" walking part of the Camino. After breakfast, we continue along the fields of Navarra towards La Rioja, the most famous wine-growing region in Spain. You can also see this in the landscape, as the vineyards/grape vines take up more and more of the landscape. In a strange place where a lot of stones are stacked, there is a tree with a lot of pilgrims' appendages. Then we continue along the path alone for hours without meeting anyone. Just before a steep descent, I meet Sofia (Italy) and Francisco. They walk very, very slowly, so I move on relatively quickly. It is a very long stretch up a mountain. When I reach the top, I see my destination for the first time, Logroño, which lies in front of the next mountain range in the valley. The sun is now extremely blazing. I notice that I am still getting sunburnt despite the sunscreen. But it is definitely much too warm for the fleece sweater. When I come across other pilgrims again, the path continues on the country road for about 2 km. After a bend, however, I see that the next town, Viana, is within reach. And indeed, about half an hour later, I reach it. An incredibly beautiful old town. Very friendly residents, who all wish me a "buen camino", even calling from their balconies. In Viana, I have a drink and something to eat with Matt (from Australia) and Will (from California). Everything hurts. My legs. I can feel every single muscle. The place where I had an operation 4 years ago is currently the worst. I still have about 12 km to go in the incredibly hot midday sun. I use every spot that is almost shady to cool down for a bit. But it is too late. Blisters are slowly forming on my arms. After a few more hours in the midday heat, I reach the city, full of pain and exhausted, and then it takes another half hour to get to my accommodation. I actually get the last bed in the local pilgrims' hostel just after 4 p.m. But there are a few others behind me. As far as I can tell, they all find a place in a church. Logroño is so busy because it is Saturday and there are also several big sporting events taking place in the area over the weekend. Shortly before Logroño, I had already tried to book a room somewhere because I just wanted to get some proper rest. But there was nothing for less than €280.
So, after I put down my backpack, I head to the nearest pharmacy. It's about 25 minutes' walk away. There I get an ointment for the burns. Then I look for a sports shop where I can buy a light shirt that I can wear and that isn't too warm. After I was finally able to shower, I went to the cathedral with Peter (from Germany). Before that we met some other pilgrims and so a large group of around 20 pilgrims formed again. I'm now back in the hostel and am really looking forward to going to bed.
Because tomorrow would actually be a longer day than today, I looked for a hostel 20km away and reserved a bed there, as there's no way I'd manage 9 hours tomorrow. It's also convenient because I have to do laundry again tomorrow and then I'll have a bit more time to recuperate.
Cost of the day:
Accommodation 10€ without breakfast Breakfast 6€Food on the way 7€Dinner 28€
Costs from yesterday, because forgotten: Accommodation 8€ without breakfast Breakfast 3,80€ Food on the way 8€ Dinner 12€